Service designer is smiling.

Service design

Service design

Service design helps us to understand the customer and discover the core problem we need to solve with the new service we are designing.

Service designer is smiling.

Service design

Service design helps us to understand the customer and discover the core problem we need to solve with the new service we are designing.

Service designer is smiling.

Service design

Service design helps us to understand the customer and discover the core problem we need to solve with the new service we are designing.

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Service Design

Discovering the core problem with service design

customer orientated solutions

service experience

usability

customer understanding

co-development

Find out the real problem before the solution

It's unfortunately very common in the software industry to use vague descriptions that customers find hard to understand. In software development projects this approach may lead to disappointment, if the end result is far from the image the customer had in mind.


Customer need is the main driver of our work. We always take a comprehensive approach to the customer’s world, both the digital and the physical. With service design we can discover the real problem we need to solve. Service design methods and tools makes it also possible to have an active dialogue between the user and other stakeholders.

Service designer is writing.
Service designer is writing.
Service designer is writing.

How we use service design

Using service design methods we can look at the future service from the user’s point of view which helps us to discuss about the service on a more concrete level.


  • We identify customer needs and the critical features of the service with customer journeys and user stories

  • We use co-creation methods to engage the user in the design process

  • We test the service with real users using interactive user interface prototypes

Customer journey map on the board.
Customer journey map on the board.
Service Design process - Mindhive Oy
Service Design process - Mindhive Oy

The steps in a design project

We begin by defining the goals of the design project together with the customer. Do you have an idea that needs clarification? Or have you faced a challenge you want to solve? The service design process leads us on the path of finding out the answers together.

People in a workshop laughing.
People in a workshop laughing.
  1. Explore and understand

We use different kinds of methods to gather information about the business environment and the customer's world:


  • By interviewing the customer and other stakeholders

  • By getting to know the customer's business and processes

  • By observing the end users

  • By benchmarking other solutions

  1. Summarise and prioritize

We analyze the data we collected and compile our findings with visualization methods.


  • We define the customer journeys

  • With user personas, we can share the understanding and talk about the service with different stakeholders

  1. Ideate and design

After we have discovered the challenge we need to solve, it is time to ideate solutions.


  • We can organize ideation workshops. We can also use workshops in all the other phases of the design process to engage the users and other stakeholders.

  • We visualize the ideas into a service concept

  • We design a UI-prototype of the digital service

  1. Test and validate

We can test the service with the real users using the prototype and make sure that our solution works in practice.


  • User testing

  • Prioritizing the features in the design

  • Feasibility assessment and cost estimate

References

Customer journey map created with sticky notes.

Better solutions by engaging the users.